Scottish Executive

Culture

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the post of the chair of the Cultural Commission was not advertised; whether rules on the public appointments were followed when making this appointment and what the reasons were for its position in the matter; what the remit, salary and term of office will be; what the operating cost of the commission and any secretariat is estimated to be; how many staff are, or will be, employed in the commission and any secretariat and from which budget their salaries will be paid; who is authorised to appoint commission staff; how commission members will be appointed and whether the procedures in respect of public appointments will be followed; whether the chair and commission members will be required to declare political affiliations, and what the nature of the relationship will be between the commission and the (a) Executive and (b) Scottish Arts Council.

Mr Frank McAveety: I have established the Cultural Commission as an independent short-life advisory body and appointments to this body do not fall within the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

  Scottish ministers are firmly of the view that James Boyle, who is highly respected by the cultural community and has brought impressive initiative and leadership to the Scottish Arts Council, is uniquely qualified to lead the commission. The other commission members will require to be highly experienced people who understand Scotland's rich and complex cultural landscape. The members have been selected by the chair of the commission and formally appointed by Scottish ministers today. Membership of the commission will be publicised in a separate announcement.

  James Boyle will receive remuneration which is, in effect, the same rate of remuneration as he received as Chair of Scottish Arts Council: £359 per day, which will increase to £366 per day with effect from 1 August 2004. His term of office will be 12 months.

  On the recommendation of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, all applicants for a public appointment must answer a standard question on political activity. Neither activity nor affiliation is a criterion for appointment. James Boyle declared no political activity in the five years to March 2004 in connection with his post as Chair of the Scottish Arts Council. We will ask the other commission members to answer the standard question on political activity.

  The remit for the commission was set out in the Scottish Executive's Cultural Policy Statement issued on 22 April 2004. It provides that the commission will: explore the notion of cultural rights for the Scottish citizen, and those of its creative community and define how these might be translated into a scheme of entitlements, and redefine the institutional infrastructure and governance of the Scottish cultural sector to enable it to deliver the entitlements that spring from rights.

  The budget for the commission has been set provisionally at £478,000. This will be confirmed subject to the commission's work plan. This modest budget is designed principally to cover the costs of staffing, administration, and consultation.

  The Cultural Commission will report to Scottish ministers. There is no direct relationship between the commission and Scottish Arts Council.

Culture

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget of the Cultural Commission will be.

Mr Frank McAveety: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-8237 answered 11 June 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

Culture

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how the members of the Cultural Commission, other than its Chair, will be appointed; what criteria will be used in choosing its members, and what role the Executive intends that the Parliament will have in making these appointments.

Mr Frank McAveety: Scottish ministers have today appointed the Commissioners to the Cultural Commission. James Boyle and I believe that these appointments will provide the breadth of experience required for the commission to fulfil its remit, as outlined in the Cultural Policy Statement which I launched in Parliament on 22 April.

  The newly appointed Cultural Commissioners are:

  Craig Armstrong, musician

  George Black, Chief Executive of Glasgow City Council

  Gordon Jeyes, Director of Children's Services, Stirling Council

  Brian Lang, Principal of St Andrews University

  Colin Marr, Director of Eden Court Theatre

  Shonaig Macpherson, McGrigors

  Lucy Mason, Chief Executive of Dance Base

  Ian Ritchie, businessman

  The commission, chaired by James Boyle, will involve people right across Scotland in carrying out the review of culture. Offices have so far been established for the commission in Stirling University, Abertay University in Dundee, The Lighthouse in Glasgow and Eden Court Theatre in Inverness, where meetings and activities will take place. Other premises will be established in Aberdeen and Dumfries; the commission's permanent base will be in Edinburgh's Broughton High School.

  I hope that the people of Scotland will engage enthusiastically with the commission in its important task of developing practical recommendations to deliver the Executive's vision for Scotland's culture, promoting access and excellence, and building on this nation's already strong reputation for creativity.

Maternity Services

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns that specialist staff may leave Scotland as a result of the loss of the combined model of care at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children and the Queen Mother's Hospital as part of plans for the reconfiguration of maternity services in greater Glasgow.

Malcolm Chisholm: I would expect Greater Glasgow NHS Board to consider this issue in any reconfiguration of maternity services.

Ministerial Correspondence

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Environment and Rural Development will respond to my letter dated 11 February 2004 regarding the quality of private water supplies.

Allan Wilson: A reply to the member's letter was issued on 3 March 2004.

National Health Service

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what changes have been made, or are planned to be made, to the quality control procedures at NHS 24 and what consultation has taken place on such changes.

Malcolm Chisholm: A number of measures are in place to monitor and improve the quality of the NHS 24 service. NHS 24 is developing a business improvement approach with staff which is focused on operational and clinical improvement of the service, and is introducing "mystery shopping" this month to measure the quality and outcome of calls. My answer to question S2W-8631 on 11 June 2004, provides further information on this.

  NHS 24 carries out an audit to monitor the accuracy of the information collected from callers which is passed to other NHS partners. It takes all complaints very seriously and these are used in feedback to staff to improve the quality of the service. NHS 24 reviews a percentage of calls taken by every member of staff on a monthly basis. This is a process agreed with staff that aims to offer patients a high quality experience. NHS 24 conducts caller surveys which are used to inform continuous improvement plans. 95% of callers indicate that they are satisfied and like the service.

  All of these activities are delivered in consultation and in partnership with NHS 24 staff through NHS 24's Partnership Forum, and with NHS board and GP partners.

  The NHS 24 Voices Forum which is drawn from members of the public offers NHS 24 the opportunity to hear views from patients and callers.

National Health Service

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to use "mystery shopping" as a system of quality control across NHS services.

Malcolm Chisholm: "Mystery shopping" as a system of monitoring and improving quality began operation with NHS 24 on 1 June 2004.

Official Receptions

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-6949 and S2W-6950 by Mr Andy Kerr on 7 April 2004, why it has no plans to publish on a monthly basis the cost of, and list of people invited to, receptions and functions hosted by the First Minister and Scottish ministers.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive will publish annually, starting from the end of the current financial year, the total cost of hospitality occasions funded directly by the Scottish Executive.

Prisoner Escorts

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it and the Scottish Prison Service took in preparing for the contract with Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd for the provision of prisoner escort and court custody services and in preparing the contract documentation and, in particular, what other organisations were consulted, what working groups or task forces were set up and how many members there were on each such group or task force.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the memorandum submitted by SPS to the Justice 2 Committee in advance of the Committee meeting on 8 June. Paragraphs 11 to 14 set out the approach to the negotiation and award of the contract. The memorandum is available on the Scottish Parliament and SPS websites.

Prisoner Escorts

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the protocols followed by Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd for escorting prisoners differ from those used by Scottish Prison Service staff prior to the commencement of the contract with Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd for the provision of prisoner escort and court custody services and, if so, in what way.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Yes. There are many differences which together provide a more secure system. The new method moves prisoners one at a time rather than in groups, the vehicles are cellular rather than open plan, the vehicles are tracked electronically and a comprehensive computer data based management information system has been introduced.

Prisoner Escorts

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how long it took for each prisoner released in error by Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd to be returned to police custody.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Of those released in error, only two were unlawfully at large. The two prisoners were released in error on 8 April 2004. One was returned to police custody on 9 April and the other returned to HM Young Offenders Institute Polmont on 26 April.

Rail Network

Bristow Muldoon (Livingston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what stage has been reached with the reletting of the ScotRail franchise.

Nicol Stephen: Following the approval of the Scottish ministers, the Strategic Rail Authority has today announced to the Stock Exchange the appointment of First Group as the preferred bidder for the ScotRail franchise.

  The Strategic Rail Authority will now work with the preferred bidder to reach closure on the franchise contract and begin the next franchise by October 2004.

Rural Development

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what evaluation it has made of the Rural Voices: Action Research Competition.

Allan Wilson: The rural research team of the Office of the Chief Researcher in the Executive has conducted an interim evaluation of the operation of the first year of the pilot Rural Voices programme. This will be made publicly available in autumn 2004. We intend to undertake a longer term evaluation to measure capacity building amongst rural communities participating in the programme.

Scottish Natural Heritage

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated costs are of relocating the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) headquarters from Edinburgh to Inverness in terms of (a) redundancy payments, (b) the cost of the new headquarters office in Inverness and (c) other relocation costs.

Allan Wilson: The Executive has approved a project plan as the basis for SNH to take forward the relocation project. The elements of the plan will need to be developed in further detail before reliable cost estimates can be agreed between SNH and the Executive and budgets set.

  SNH is making significant progress with the relocation project. In March this year the Executive approved SNH proposals which aim to encourage staff to relocate to Inverness. Consultation on those proposals is currently under way between SNH management and its trade unions. The cost of payments to staff will depend on the response which individual members of staff make to the terms which are being offered. SNH expect to issue tender invitations for the provision of their new headquarters building in Inverness in the near future.